PGI Pulmonologist Dr Ritesh Agarwal honoured with CSIR Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award

Written by MD Bureau Published On 2020-09-28T09:30:17+05:30 | Updated On 28 Sept 2020 9:30 AM IST

PGI Pulmonologist Dr Ritesh Agarwal honoured with CSIR Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award

Chandigarh: In a first, a Professor in the Department of Pulmonary Medicine of the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh (PGI Chandigarh), Dr. Ritesh Agarwal has been honored with the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award, 2020, by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

This award was presented to Dr. Agarwal in the medical sciences category for his significant contributions in the field of allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) on CSIR's 79th foundation day.

Currently working as an Additional Professor in the Department of Pulmonary Medicine at the PGIMER, Chandigarh, Dr Agarwal's primary research area is Allergic Bronchopulmonary Aspergillosis (ABPA).

He has completed his medical school (M.B.B.S) in 1998 from Stanley Medical College and joined the Residency Program in Internal Medicine at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh in 1998. He completed his Fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine from the same Institute in 2004.

He has specialized in Allergic Bronchopulmonary Aspergillosis (ABPA) and interventional pulmonology. He received ICMR Kamal Satbir Award for the year 2009 for contributions in the field of allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis. Prior to this, he was awarded ICMR Shakuntala Amir Chand Award for the year 2012 for outstanding contributions in the same field. He was further conferred the T.R. Raghpati Rao ORATION by the Indian Association for Bronchology in the BRONCOCON 2016, the 21st Annual Meeting of the Indian Association for Bronchology held at Srinagar, India from May 28-30, 2016.

Dr. Agarwal has more than 375 publications to his credit. He has written several chapters in national and international books. He is also co-author of two books (Oxygen Therapy, Textbook of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine).

He also maintains a keen interest in interventional pulmonology, pleural disorders, invasive and noninvasive ventilation, and meta-analysis.

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On the CSIR conference, lauding the scientists of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research the Minister of Health, Harsh Vardhan stated that they have contributed towards making ventilators and personal protection kits for genome sequencing. He also stated that on the ongoing pandemic, the fight against coronavirus started on January 8, in a day or two of the news about the cases in China being delivered by the World Health Organisation. The CSIR has nearly 40 laboratories and institutes working on niche subjects ranging from genomics to aeronautics, from leather to metallurgy.

The CSIR said Avra Laboratories, a leading pharmaceutical company on Saturday announced that it would establish three research chairs at CSIR to support and recognize exemplary work in the field of translational research. The chairs will provide a three-year fellowship to selected scientists to recognize and advance their efforts, the statement added.

PTI reports that apart from Dr. Agarwal, Jyotirmayee Dash, the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkata, and Subi Jacob George, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bengaluru have bagged the award in the area of Chemical Sciences. In the area of Biological Sciences, the coveted award has been bagged by Subhadeep Chatterjee from the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad, and Vatsala Thirumalai from the National Centre for Biological Sciences.

"Whenever there has been a challenge of any form before the country, we have always been able to convert it into an opportunity and they (scientists) ultimately deliver good for the society and help in alleviating hardships in many ways," Vardhan said.

"Whenever any responsibility is given to CSIR, they go ahead in a very dynamic way," Vardhan added, citing an instance where he had proposed the use of green crackers on Diwali as an alternative to traditional firecrackers to address the problem of pollution.

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar awardcsripgimerpgi chandigarhdr ritesh agarwalPulmonologist

Source : with agency inputs

MD Bureau

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